Chair with adjustable back-rest



F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 2,953,193

CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE BACKREST Sept; 20, 1960 6 Sheets-Sheet 1 Filed July 1, 1957 FIG. I.

INVENTOR. 12 mvva F. scx/us xmck Sept. 20, 1960 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 2,953,193

CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE BACK-REST 7 Filed July 1, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 2 FIG. 3.

FIG. 4.

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CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE BACK-REST 6 Sheets-Sheet 3 Filed July 1, 1957 NOE INVENTOR.

PIP/0710f E .SCHL/'PbAC/(E M QL v Arramvev:

P 1950 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 2,953,193

CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE BACK-REST 6 Sheets-Sheet 4 Filed July '1, 1957 FIG. H.

INVENTOR.

FE/DTJOF' F2 .SCHLIEPA AckE BY Wv@ Sept; 20, 1950 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 2,953,193

CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE BACK-REST 6 Sheets-Sheet 5 Filed July 1, 1957 FIG.

L, INVENTOR.

FE/DTJOF E .SCA/L/E'Pl/A oz:

BY (y P 1950 F. F. SCHLIEPHACKE 2,953,193

CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE BACK-REST Filed July 1, 1957 6 Sheets-Sheet 6 FIG. l6.

FIG. I7.

I INVENTOR.

Fk/DTJaF $Cl/L/EPHACKE J'za BY fr; f7! .04 W Zy United States Patent CHAIR WITH ADJUSTABLE BACK-REST- Fridtjof F. Schliephacke, Berlin-Schmargendorf, Germany, assignor to Anton Lorenz, Boynton Beach, Fla.

Filed July 1, 1957, Ser. No. 668,991

7 Claims. (Cl. 155-106) The present invention relates generally to articles of furniture, and in particular to an improved chair incorporating a back-rest which may be adjusted upwardly and downwardly relative to the seat of the chair.

Quite often the aesthetic and functional requirements for a chair are antagonistic. Illustrative of this problem is the difficulty of styling a chair with a high back-rest to conform with and adapt to the present-day tendency for streamlined, low-backed chairs. From the standpoint of comfort, a chair is far more acceptable if the back-rest is high enough to support the entire back, shoulders and head of the person seated in the chair. Further to this end, it has been suggested that a head-rest be provided on the back-rest to provide a support for the head of the occupant of the chair. However difiiculty is encountered in attempting to reconcile these functional requirements to the styling and proportioning of a chair which appear to require that the chair be no higher than the shoulder portion of the occupant. 1

It is an object of the present invention to provide a chair assembly including a movable back-rest, which back-rest is made of a sufliciently long size so that it may support the head of a person leaning thereagainst when in an extended raised position, but which is capable of being lowered into a retracted position relative to the chair structure. In the retracted position of the backrest, the lower portion of the back-rest is sunk into the chair structure so that it presents with the seat an aesthetic chair assembly which conforms to present-day style requirements.

Another object of the invention is the provision of a chair assembly of the character described in which a simple linkage arrangement is utilized for guiding the back-rest between its raised position and its lowered position, the movement of the back-rest being therefore eifected in a simple and economical manner. The linkage arrangement presents a self-balancing structure whereby the back-rest is retained in its raised and lowered positions, and so that only a slight manual eifort is required to raise or lower said back-rest when desired.

In accordance with the invention, the vertically-movable back-rest may be incorporated in a reclining chair of the type in which the back-rest and seat are both capable of being pivoted or tilted rearwardly to a reclining position, and in addition in which a movable leg-rest is coordinated with the rearward pivoting movement of the back-rest and seat.

It is another object of the invention to provide in a reclining chair of the type described, a back-rest which is mounted for movement between a lowered retracted position, and a raised, extended position, the back-rest being locked against the rearward pivoting movementin its lowered, retracted position, and being capable of rearward pivoting or tilting only in its raised, extended position. In this construction, means are provided to lock the back-rest in its raised, extended position with the legrest control linkage, so that rearward pivoting or tilting 2,953,193 Patented Sept. 20, 1960 movement of the back-rest will cause coordinated movement of the leg-rest and seat.

Additional objects and advantages of the invention will become apparent during the course of the following specification when taken in connection with the accompanying drawings in which:

Fig. 1 is an elevational View of a chair of the nonreclining type incorporatingimproved linkage means for raising and lowering the back-rest relative to the seat and the remainder of the chair structure, the back-rest being shown in its lowered, retracted position and a portion of the chair being broken away for clarity of illustration;

Fig. 2 is an elevational view of the chair shown in Fig. 1, with the back-rest shown in its raised or extended position;

Fig. 3 is an elevational view showing the invention applied to a reclining chair of the type in which the seat and back-rest are mounted for rearward pivoting or tilting movement, and in which a leg-rest is mounted for coordinated movement in response to rearward pivoting movement of the back-rest, the back-rest being shown in its lowered, retracted position in which it is locked from rearward pivoting movements, and portions of the chair structure being broken away to reveal inner structural details;

Fig. 4 is an elevational view of the chair shown in Fig. 3, with the back-rest shown in its raised, extended position in which it is locked with the controlling linkage of the leg-rest;

Fig. 5 is an elevational view of the chair shown in Fig. 4, showing the back-rest in its rearwardly pivoted or tilted position in which the leg-rest is extended;

Fig. 6 is an elevational view of the outer rear portion of the chair shown in Figs. 3-5, illustrating a guiding slot in the fixed chair structure which guides and permits movement of the linkage arrangement, the backrest being shown in its lowered, retracted position in this view;

Fig. 7 is a diagrammatic view showing the linkage arrangement of the reclining chair illustrated in Figs. 3, 4, 5 and 6, the linkage arrangement in this View being in the position shown in Fig. 3 with the back-rest locked in its lowered, retracted position;

Fig. 8 is a diagrammatic view of the rear portion of the linkage system, corresponding to the position shown in Fig. 4 with the back-rest in its raised, extended position, but not rearwardly pivoted;

Fig. 9 is an elevational view, partially broken away, of a reclining chair of the type shown in Fig. 3, but including a modified type of arrangement for locking the back-rest in its lowered position, the back-rest in this view being shown in its lowered, retracted position;

Fig. 10 is an elevational view of the rear portion of the chair shown in Fig. 9 but with the back-rest shown in its raised, extended position;

Fig. 11 is an elevational view of the rear portion of the chair shown in Figs. 9 and 10, with the back-rest shown in its rearwardly pivoted or tilted position;

Fig. 12 is a diagrammatic view of a modified type of linkage arrangement in a reclining chair of the type shown in Fig. 3, the back-rest in this View being shown in its lowered position;

Fig. 13 is a diagrammatic view of the rear portion of the linkage system illustrated in Fig. 12, with the back-rest shown in its raised position;

Fig. 14 is an elevational view of a reclining chair which includes a modified type of linkage structure for raising and lowering the back-rest as well as for locking the back-rest in its lowered position and connecting the backrest to the leg-rest control linkage in its raised position,

position;

Fig. is a diagrammatic view of the rear portion of 'the linkage arrangement shown in the chair of Fig. 14, with the back-rest being shown in its raised, extended position;

Fig. 16 is a diagrammatic viewof the linkage arrangement of the chair shown in Fig. l4,'the baclerest in this Referring now in detail to the drawings and specifically.

to Figs. 1 and 2, there is shown a chair designated generally by the reference numeral 10, inwhich the seatis made an immovable part of the fixed chair structure, and in which the back-rest is mounted for substantially vertical-' move'ment relative to the: chair structure including the seat. The chair 10 includes a supporting frame 12. on which a seat 14 is immovably mounted and is thereforepositioned at a fixed level above the floor surface. A back-rest 16v is mounted on the support frame 1 2 for movement in a substantially vertical direction relative tojthe support frame andto said seat 14. The means for mounting the back-rest 16 on'the support frame 12' includes a pair of parallel links 18 and 20 which are pivotally. connected. tothe. lower portion of the back-rest 16 at spaced points :by a respective pair of pivots 22 and 24.

The opposite. ends of the links 18' and: 20 are connected; to a fixed portion'26 of the support frame 12 by. a respece V tive pair of spaced pivots 28v and 30. A coiled tension springSZ is mounted at; one end to a fixed portion 34 of 7 the support frame. 12, and is mounted at its other end.

' In the lowered or retracted position; of the back-rest 16,

shown in Fig. l, the lower portion of the back-r'estissunk substantially at the level of the shoulders. of a person seated inthe chair, and is] therefore in accordancewith.

.the;present-day style of chairs; In thisposition, thesbottomofjthe back-rest 16 is substantially. at the level of the bottom of the support frame 12, and the links 18 and: 20. extend downwardly and rearwardly from. the support frame portion 26. The spring 32 is so mounted that" in.

this retracted position of the back-rest, the spring is suba diagrammatic view of a modified type of within thebody'ofthe chairsupportstructure and the; top. of theback-rest 16 is located only a. shortgdistancc above. .the level of the seat 14. Inthis. retracted position ofthe back-rest, thetopof: the. back-rest 16 would be located:

stantially aligned with the axis. of the upper link 13 to.

which it isfattached, the spring 32;be.ing-thus.in a dead center position and being ineffectiveto pivot the link-18 upwardly about its pivot 28: I

When it isdesired to move-the backrest L6 toitsraised,v

extended position, it is merely necessary for the .userto lift manually at the top'of said back-rest. Such lifting position, andtapproachesa. horizontal: position, at which time the spring 32 becomes effective to bias the-link 'IS-up wardly atthefixed point 36. Thus, by aslightrnanual upward lifting movement, the spring-32 raisesthe backrest 16 during the rest of; the vertical; movement td'itS:

fully. raised, extendedposition shown in Fig. 2:

In the raised position of the back-rest shown in Fig. 2, the lower portion of the back-rest 16 is brought to the level or above the level of the seat 14, and the links 18 and 20 are inclined upwardly and rearwardly from the support frame portion 26. In this position, the spring 32 through its fixed connection 36 biases the upper link 18 upwardly and forwardly andis effective to maintain the back-rest 16 in its raised position even when the weightof the. user is directed against said back-rest. The top of the back-rest 16 is now located a substantial dis tance above the seat 14; and'is at a level in which the head of the user maybe rested thereagainst.

'The fixed stop member-"38. mounted onwthe support frame portion 26 is positioned to engage the lower edge of the uppermost 18 in the lowered retracted position of the back-rest shown in Fig. 1, thereby limiting further downward movement of said back-rest past its fully retracted position. In addition, the stop member 38 also engages the upper edge. ofthe lowermost link 20; in the raised, extended position of the back-rest 16, as shown in Fig. 2;, thereby also acting as a stop means to prevent further upward movementof the back-restpast its fully extended position. 1

It will be appreciatedthat the arrangement of the links 18 and 20 together with the spring 32 effects a self locking of the back-rest. 1 6 in both its lowered or re tracted position and its raised or extended position. In the lowered position of, the back-restshown in Fig. 1, the

' spring 32, beingin its dead center position, presents no appreciable biasing force on-the link 18 which would cause the link- 18 to-pivotupwardly. The back-rest 16', therefore by its own weight, is maintained in its lowered position. In the. raised positionof the back-restshown Fig.2; the spring 32 automatically: presents a strong up-- ward biasing; force on the. uppermost link 18' whichretainsthe-back-rest 16in its raised position.

It will be observed that the linkage arrangement shown in Figs. '1 and 2 forms a four-bar linkage consisting; of

1 the. links 18 and 20; the portion of the. back-rest 16 between the pivots 22 and: 24, and the portion of the support frame between the pivots 28- and 30. While in; the structure shown in Figs. 1 and 2, thisfour-bar linkageis in the form. of a;parallelo'gram, thislinkage may 1 assumev other forms, as willibe presently shown and rest; betweenafretracted position beneath the forward 'rest from the leg-rest control linkage whenthebackrest is. in itsloweredposition, and to lock the-back-rest' to the leg-rest control linkage when the back-rest is in its raisediposition; wherebyrearward pivoting or tilting movement'of-the back r'est to. its reclined position-is translated into coordinated. movement oftheleg-restitbroughits control;- linkage.

I n;the embodiment showniuiEigsz 3 through. 8, those parts which. a s milar. t the; Parts sh wn. its the one bodiments of Figs. 1 and 2 are given like; reference; numerals, except that they, are; a: partof, the. 100, series.

Referring; specifically, to Fig. 3 thechair; indicated generally by reference numeral; 110,, includes a support frame 112' upon which a seat. 1314, and, arback-rest' 116 are mounted, The seat. 11 4"is mountedion thQback-rest 116' by means ofj a bracket 152' which is pivoted toa ofthe support frame-1 .12 by a pivot A pair oflinks, 118iand120' are mopnted -at the lower end of'the. back-rest- 116 atispaced points by respective,

pivots 122 and 124. The opposite end of the links 118 and 120 are pivotally connected at spaced apart points to an arm 140 at respective pivots 128 and 130. The arm 140 is pivotally mounted on the support by the pivot 144, and depends therefrom. Also mounted at one end on the pivot 144 is a coupling link 146 which has a pin or finger 150 at its opposite end, and a slot 148 intermediate its ends. The upper link 118 has a fixed pin 138 located between the pivots 128 and 122, which pin 138 is positioned to enter the slot 148 of the coupling link 146 when the back-rest 116 is brought to its raised position, whereby the back-rest is pivotally coupled to the support for rearward tilting or pivoting movement,-

as will be presenting described in greater detail.

A tension spring 132 is mounted upon the back-rest 116 by means of a pin 134 which is fixed to said backrest. The other end of the spring 132 is connected to a pin 136 rigidly mounted on the free end of the upper link 118 which extends beyond the pivot 122.

It will be observed that in this embodiment, the spring 132 is arranged to present a biasing force constantly upon the end of the upper link 118 to pivot in a counterclockwise direction about its pivot 122. That is to say, the spring tension is constantly in a radial direction, and there is no dead-center position as in the embodiment of Figs. 1 and 2. However, spring 132 is not made strong enough to lift the back-rest 116; it merely acts in this instance as a counter-balancing force which assists the user in raising the back-rest.

The chair 110 also includes a leg-rest 154 and a legrest control linkage 156 adapted to move the leg-rest from the retracted position shown in Fig. 3 to the extended position shown in Fig. 5, when the back-rest 116 is pivoted rearwardly to its reclined position. The legrest control linkage 156 includes a pair of links 158 and 160 which are connected at spaced apart points to the leg-rest 154 by respective pivots 162 and 164. A link 166 is connected at one end to the seat 114 at pivot 168, and at its other end is connected by pivot 170 to the free end of link 158. An intermediate portion of the link 166 crosses an intermediate portion of the link 160 and is connected thereto at the crossing point by a pivot 172.

Movement of the leg-rest control linkage is effected by means of a drive or actuating link 174, the forward end of which is connected to the link 166 by pivot 176. The opposite end of the drive link 174 is connected to the lower end of the arm 140 at pivot 178. A link 180 connects an intermediate portion of the drive link 174 to the free end of the leg-rest link 160, being pivotally connected to drive link 174 by pivot 184 at one end, and at the other end being pivotally connected to the free end of link 160 by pivot 182. A controlv link 186 is mounted at its top end on the support by a pivot 188, the bottom end of the control link 186 being connected by pivot 190 to the drive link 174 at a point spaced rearwardly from the pivot 184.

In the lowered position of the back-rest 116, the bottom portion of the back-rest is located well below the level of the seat 114. The forward corner of the back-rest 116 is seated against a stop member in the form of an angle bracket 182, which acts as stop means to prevent the back-rest 116 from being rearwardly pivoted in its lowered position. As shown in Fig. 3, the back-rest connecting links 118 and 120 are downwardly and rearwardly inclined and the spring 138 is tensioned. The back-rest 116 is maintained in its lowered position by its own weight. Further, the back-rest 116 is connected to the support 112 only by means of the connecting links 118 and 120 through the pivotal connection of the latter with the arm 140 which is swingably mounted on the support portion 142. The back-rest 116 may therefore be raised relative to the support.

In raising the back-rest 116 to its raised, extended position shown in Fig. 4, the user may again lift the back- 6 rest, the counter-balancing force of the spring 132 aiding the user to raise the back-rest to its fully extended position shown in Fig. 4.

As the back-rest 116 is raised, and the links 118 and 120 pivot upwardly about their respective pivots 128 and 130, the pin 138 of the link 118 engages the rear end of the coupling link 146, pivoting said coupling link 146 upwardly about the fixed pivot 144 until it reaches the horizontal position shown in Fig. 4, at which time, the pin 138 enters the slot 148 in said coupling link 146. Engagement of the pin 138 with the slot 148 locks the link 118 rigidly to the arm 140, that is to say there is formed a rigid linkage connection in triangular form consisting of the upper end of arm 140, the lower end of link 118 and the forward end coupling link 146. The back-rest 116 is therefore now pivotally coupled to the support 112 on pivot pin 144 and the arm 140 is now rigidly connected to and turnable with the back-rest 116, functioning as a rigid extension thereof below the pivot 144. The bottom end of the back rest 116 is now located at or above the level of the seat 114, and the back-rest is operatively connected to the seat control and leg-rest control linkage 156 for actuation of said linkage when the back-rest is pivoted rearwardly about the pivot 144.

When a person seated in the chair leans rearwardly upon the raised, extended back-rest 1-16, the back-rest pivots rearwardly about the fixed pivot 144 to the reclined position shown in Fig. 5. Since the arm 140 is rigidly coupled to the back-rest 116 by the coupling link 146 and the upper back-rest link 118, the arm 140 moves with said back-rest and pivots about the fixed pivot 144 with its lower end moving forwardly, and thereby pushing the drive link 174 forwardly. The drive link 174 in moving forwardly is guided in its movement by guide link v186, and causes the link 166 to pivot forwardly and upwardly about its pivot 168. This movement of the link 166 causes the leg-rest 154 to be raised to its extended position shown in Fig. 5 in which it is spaced forwardly of and at the level of the front end of the seat 114. At the same time, the link 166 also operates to raise the forward end of the seat 114 causing the seat to pivot upwardly in response to the rearward pivoting movement of the back-rest 116.

To return the chair assembly from its reclined position to the upright position of Fig. 4, it is merely necessary for the user to shift his weight forwardly and to press downwardly with his legs upon the leg-rest 154.

In the raised, extended position of the back-rest 116,

shown in Fig. 4, the back-rest 116 is rigidly locked in raised position by coupling link 146 and a manual adjustment is required for releasing the back-rest from this position. For this purpose, the side of the support frame 112 is provided with an arcuate slot 194, shown in Fig. 6, through which the pin or finger of the coupling link 146 extends. The slot 194 is shaped and made of sufficient length to allow pivoting movement of the coupling link 146 between the various positions of the chair assembly. The pin or finger 150- projects outwardly from the slot 194 so that it may be grasped by the user in order to release the back-rest 116 for movement downwardly to its retracted position of Fig. 3. In performing this latter operation, the user manually moves the finger 150 upwardly in the slot '194, thereby lifting or pivoting the coupling link 146 until the pin 138 is free of the slot 148. This unlocks the upper back-rest link 118' from the coupling link 146 and from the arm 140, and permits the back-rest 116 to be pushed downwardly to its retracted position of Fig. 3.

Figs. 9, l0 and 11 show a similar reclining chair in which again a parallogram four-bar linkage is utilized for raising and lowering the back-rest, but in which a modified structure is provided for locking the extended back-rest to the leg-rest control linkage. Again similar reference numerals are used for like parts, these numerals being in the 200 series. I

of parallel back-rest links 218 and 220 are connected at I one. end to the back-rest 216 by respective pivots 222 and 224 and at their opposite ends-- are connected to the arm 240 by pivots 230. and 228. A tension spring 232 is. conneeted atone end to the back-rest 216. at point 234 and at its other end is connected. to the end of the upper link 218 beyond the pivot 222 by the fixed pin 236.- r The spring 232 is arranged in the manner described in the. embodimentof Figs. 1 and 2, that to say. its tension is directed along the. axis of the upper link 218 or in a dead-center position substantially radially of the pivot point 222 when the back-rest 216 isin its lowered, re-

tracted position of Fig. -9. However, when the back-rest V is. manually lifted a short distance, and the link 218 ap- V proaches a horizontal plane, the spring 2 32 becomesv effective to provide a biasing circumferential force. on the the chair 210 includes.

also serving as a stop means to limit the downward move. .ment of, the backrest 2.16 past, its retracted position.

In the embodimentsofthe invention which have been illustrated. and described up tov the present point, the. four-bar, linkage connection of theback-rest has been in the form of'a parallelogram. Figs. 12. and. 13 illustrate a modified form. of linkage arrangement. in. which the links: are not parallel to each otherand do. not form-a four-bar parallelogram linkage. connection- In. these views the.

link 218 tending to pivot said link about its pivot point 222 and raising the back-rest 216 to its extended position of Fig. 10.. 7

The plate 296 is provided at its rear edge \m'th an arcuate, inwardly directed slot 298. When the back-rest 216 is brought to its extended position of Fig. 10, the upward pivoting of the lowermost link 220 causes the fixed pin 238 carried thereby to enter the. mouth of the slot 298 as. is. clearly shown in Fig. 10. Inv this position, the

pin 238. engages the edge of the arm 240 and thereby prevents any further upward pivoting movement of the link 220. This hasv the eifect of preventing the movement. of the back-rest216 past its extended position.

When the back-rest 216 is in its extended position of Fig. 10v and a person seated in the chair leans rearwardly upon said back-rest, the back-rest pivots rearwardly about the main pivot'242, the. upper link 218 and the portion:

'of the arm 240 between. pivot 228'and the fixed pivot 24 2 acting in this instance as a rigid back-restconnection with the pivot 242.. In addition, the upper back-rest link 218 pulls rearwardly on the upper end of arm- 240 above the fixed pivot'242 causing the am 240 to pivot with the back-rest 216. as a rigid. extension thereof, and causing the. lower end of arm 240 to move forwardly. In this rearward pivoting movement. of the back-rest 216 to its reclined. position shown inFig. 11, the lower. backarest link. 22.0. moves. forwardly with its. attached portion of the mm and the slot 298 in plate 296 provides clearance for the pin. 238, to. permit this forward movement.

"Ihefarm 240- is connected at its bottom end to the end of the drive. link 274 of the leg-restv control linkage at pivot 2,7,8. Movementof the drive link 274 is controlled by guide. link 286. which is mounted on the. support 212 at pivot 288 and is. oonnectedto-an intermediate portion of the drive link 274 at the pivot 290. The. remainder of the. leg-rest control linkage is similar to that shown in Fig. 3, and for convenience has not been illustrated in this embodiment.

spending to, that shown in Fig. 5. Engagementof the pin 238 at the end of the slot 298 prevents further rear.-

.ward pivoting movement of the back-rest 216 past its reclinedpositionof Fig. 11. V

- In this embodiment, when it is desired tov lower the.

7 When the chair structure is brought to the reclined; position shown in Fig; 11, theleg-rest will be extended by-the drive link 274 to a position correcorresponding linkage. portions are again given the same reference numerals, exceptthat they are. part of the 663300, V V V V' V V q V V 111. the chair 3.10-shown in. Figs. 12. and 13-, the seat, 3141 is .pivotally mounted .on a'fixed position 3420f the.support by a fixed'pivot 344. Also-mountedon afixed pivot 344 and depending therefrom is an arm 340. The-back rest connecting links: 318 and :320 areconnectedat spaced points, to the'back-rest 316. by respective pivots 322 and- 324, and at their. .oppositeends. are connectedat spaced to. the am 340 at.;their respectivepivots 328 and 330.. Thelink 318 has an end portion which. projects beyond pivot 322 and is connected at 336. to. one end of a tension spring 332- whoseother end is. fixed to the backrest316 at 334. I

- In the lowered, retracted position of the back-rest 316,, it will be. observed that the link 320issubstantially aligned with and parallel to the arm 340, so that the. four-bar. linkage arrangement is-substantially in the form of a trig angle, one arm of which is formed by the link 318, one arm bythe backrest portion between the pivots 322 and 324, and the remaining arm of which is formed by the link 320 andthe portion of the arm 340between the pivots 33.0 and 328. In this retracted. position of Fig. l' 2,the

' or plate 391 which. is fixed to the arm 340, the stop mem- V backrest 216. fromitsf raised position of Fig. 10 to its reher 391 limiting further upward movement of the backrest; 3.16. In this extended position, again the. four-bar linkage is in. the form of a triangle, one arm of which is formed by the link 318, one arm by the portion of the arm. 340 between the pivots 330 and 328, and the remaining arm being formed by the link 320 and the coexten 'sive portion of the back rest 316 between the pivot. 322 and: the. pivot 324.. The'link 320 is nowaligned-with the axis of theback-rest 316, and is effective to hold the back: rest inits raised position.

When a person leans'rearwardly upon the back-rest 316, the rearward pressure against the back-rest above the pivot 322. causes the link 320 to press against the stop. member 391 thereby locking together the link 320. and, arm 340. The triangular form of'the four-bar linkage shown'in this. embodiment is therefore elfective to automatically cause the arm 340 to become rigid with the back-rest 316 in the raised, extended position of the back- Y rest shown in Fig; 13.

The leg-rest actuating link 374 is connected to the bot tom endof the arm 340.at pivot 378; The actuating or drivelink 374 is also connected. to the leg-rest control linkage =356'which carries the. leg-rest. 354. This leg-rest control arrangement 356 is identiclalto that shown'in the previousv embodiment and will thereforenot be described in detail. It 'will be understoodQhowever, that rearward pivoting movement of. the back-rest 316 'will cause the legrest control linkage 356 to bring the leg-rest forwardly and upwardlly to its extended position as was hereinbefore described.

To lower the back-rest 316 from its raised position of Fig,'13,'the. user need merely tilt the back-rest slightIy' forwardly and thenpress downwardly- Figs. 14through 16 illustrate. a linkage: arrangement backrest-extension 440 is pivoted to theseatrather 9 7 than to the support. The numerals in these views are in the 400 series.

The seat 414 of chair 41a has a rearwardly-extending rigid bracket 452 which is pivoted to a fixed portion 442 of the support frame 412 at pivot 444. The upper end of arm 440 is pivoted at 441 no the rear end portion of the seat 414.

The links 418 and 420 are again connected to the backrest 416 at spaced-apart points by respective pivots 422 and 424. The opposite ends of the links 418 and 420 are connected to spaced points on the arm 440 by respective pivots 428 and 430. The links 418 and 420 are again not parallel to each other and are arranged similarly to the links shown in Figs. 12 and 13. A tension spring 432 is connected at one end to the end of the link 418 which extends beyond the pivot 422 and at its other end is connected at 434 to the back-rest 416. The back-rest structure is therefore mounted upon the seat 414, and is not directly connected to the support.

In the extended position of the back-rest 416, shown in Fig. 15, the links 418 and 420, together with the corresponding portions of the arm 440 and the back-rest 416, form a triangle which is effective to hold the back-rest 416 in its raised, extended positionand is also efliective to lock the back-rest 416 to the arm 440 so that rearward pivoting movement of the back-rest 416 will provide forward pivoting movement of the arm 440 about pivot 441. This is accomplished by engagement of the link 420 with a stop member or plate 491 which is rigidly fixed to the am 440, as shown in Fig. 15.

When the person sitting in the chair leans rearwardly upon the back-rest 416, the back-rest pivots rearwardly through the locked linkage about the pivot 441 on the seat 414. Simultaneously, the arm 440 is pivoted forwardly about the pivot 441 and the actuating or drive link 474 which is connected to the bottom of arm 440 at pivot 478 actuates the leg-rest control linkage 456 to raise the leg-rest 454 to its extended position shown in Fig. 16.

Figs. 17 and 18 show a modified type of linkage arrangement contained in reclining chair 510, in which a hook member is used to lock the back-rest 516 against rearward pivoting movement when the back-rest is in its lowered, reclined position. The seat 514 is connected to a rigid rearwardly extending bracket 552 which is mounted at pivot 544 to a fixed portion 542 of the chair support frame. The support arm 540 is also pivotally mounted to the support frame on pivot 544 as is the end of the upper back-rest link 516. The other end of link 518 is connected to the back-rest 516 at pivot 552. The link 516 has a portion extending rearwardly of the pivot 522 which is connected by tension spring 532 to the backrest at 534. The lower back-rest link 520 is connected at one end to the back-rest 516 by pivot 524 and at its other end is connected to the arm 540 by pivot 530.

A hook member 595 is pivoted at 596 to the fixed portion 542 of the support frame, and in the lowered, retracted position of the back-rest 516 shown in Fig. 17, is adapted to engage and hold a projection 597 on the end portion of the arm 540 which extends beyond the fixed pivot 544. Engagement of the hook 595 with the arm projection 597 locks the arm 540 rigidly and immovably relative to the support so that the arm 540 may not pivot about the fixed pivot 544. Thus, in the retracted position of the back-rest 516, said back-rest may not be pivoted or tilted rearwardly and the leg-rest and seat cannot move relative to the support frame. When the back-rest 516 is raised to its extended position shown in Fig. 18, however, the link 518 pivots upwardly and engages the end portion of the hook '595 as shown in Fig. 18, raising the hook 595 out of engagementwith the projection 597 of the am 540 and releasing the arm 540 for pivoting movement about the fixed pivot 544. Thus, when the back-rest 516 is brought to its raised, extended position, and the person sitting in the chair leans rearwardly upon said back-rest, the back-rest will pivot rear.- wardly about the fixed pivot 544 and the triangular arrangement of the linkage system together with the engagement of the link 520 with a projection 591 on the arm 540 locks the arm 450 rigidly with the back-rest and causes said arm to pivot forwardly. This forward pivoting of the arm 540 moves the drive link '574 forwardly, causing the latter to actuate the leg-rest control linkage 556 and raise the leg-rest 554 to its extended position.

When the back-rest 516 is returned to its lowered, retracted position shown in Fig. 17, the weight of the hook member 595 causes the latter to drop and again engage with the projection 597 of the arm 540.

While preferred embodiments of the invention have been described herein, it is obvious that numerous additions, changes and omissions may be made without departing from the spirit and scope of the invention.

What I claim is:

1. An improved chair comprisingva support, a seat carried on said support, a back-rest disposed rearwardly of said seat and cooperating therewith to accommodate a person seated in said chair, linkage means pivotally mounting said back-rest for translation upwardly and downwardly relative to said seat in an arcuate path, said linkage means establishing a first limit position wherein a major portion of said back-rest extends above said seat and a second limit position wherein the lower portion of said back-rest extends below said seat, said linkage means including a pair of links pivoted at one pair of ends to said support and at the other pair of ends to said back-rest, said pair of links extending downwardly and rearwardly from said one pair of ends in said second limit position and swinging upwardly and rearwardly as said back-rest is moved into said second limit position, the weight of said back-rest normally maintaining the same into second limit position, and a spring operatively connected to said linkage means for urging said backrest into said first limit position, said spring exerting a pull substantially in line with said linkage means in said second limit position and exerting a pull substantially at right angles to said linkage means in said first limit position.

2. In an article of furniture including a support, a seat mounted on said support, a back-rest disposed rearwardly of said seat and cooperating therewith to accommodate a person seated in said article of furniture, a legrest disposed adjacent to and beneath the forward end of the seat, a carrier for said back-rest movably mounted on said support, means operatively connected to said carrier and said back-rest and mounting said back-rest on said carrier for up and down movement between lower and upper limit position, releasable means on said carrier operative to lock said back-rest to said carrier in said upper limit position, the assembly of said carrier and back-rest in said upper limit position being movable to various reclined positions, and means operatively connected to said carrier and to said seat and leg-rest for coordinating movement of said seat and leg-rest to reclining movement of said back-rest.

3. In an article of furniture including a support and a seat mounted on said support, a back-rest, a carrier arm pivotally mounted on said support adjacent said back-rest, a pair of links connecting the lower portion of said back-rest to said carrier arm for up and down movement of the back-rest relative to said carrier arm between a retracted position wherein a lower portion of said back-rest extends below said seat and an elevated position wherein at least a portion of said lower portion of said back-rest extends above the prescribed level of said seat, coupling means for locking one of said pair of links to said carrier arm in the elevated position of said back-rest, a leg-rest, a leg-rest control linkage connected to said leg-rest for moving the leg-rest from a retracted position beneath the forward end of the Seat to 11 an extended position forwardly of and substantially at. the level of the forward end of said seat, said leg-rest control linkage including a drive link connected to said carrier arm, said coupling means being eifective to lock said carrier arm to the lower end of the back-rest in the elevated position of the latter for rearward pivoting movement of said back-rest about the pivotal connection of said carrier arm on said support, said carrier arnr'. thereby serving as a rigid depending extension of said back-rest and being moved forwardly by rearward pivoting of said back-rest to actuate said leg-rest control linkage throughrsaid drive- 4. An article 'of furniture according, to claim 3 in V e which said coupling means includesacouplinglink pivotally mounted onr'said support and having a slot therein,

a one of said pair of links having a pin engageable in said slot'when said: back-rest is raised to its elevated. position, said one link, said carrier arm and said coupling link forming a locked triangle to lock saidcarrier' arm to said back-rest. e e r r I 7' 5.rAn article of furniture according to claim 3- in which said coupling means includes a fixed abutment on one of said pair of links, said abutment being positioned to engage said carrier arm inthe elevated position. of said baclerest to limit further movement of said back! 12 rest relative to said-carrierarm, the other of said pair of links being pivoted to said carrier armabove the pivotal connection of said carrier tov said support, whereby rearward pivoting movement of saidtback-rest causes said carrier arm to pivot on said support. 7

6. An article of furniture according to claim 3 in which said coupling means includes a projection on said carrier arm, said pair of links being arranged to form a triangular linkage with said carrier arm. and a portion of the backs-rest included in the triangle when said back-rest is in its elevated position, one. of said pair of links being positioned to engagefsaid projection to. lock said triangular linkage" and rigidly couple the carrier arm and back-rest.v p e 7.7 An article ofv furniture according to claim 3 which also includes stop means for restrainingrearward pivoting movementof said back-rest when the latter is in its retracted position, said stop means comprising a hook member pivotally mounted on the support and positioned to engage andfhold the carrier; arm.

References Cited: in the file of this patent UNITED STATES PATENTS 

